Girls Chase Boys
by TheSilverEternity
Summary: Li Syaoran Transfers To Tomoeda High and Sakura immediately HATES him. He's everything she despises in a guy, from his superior attitude to his fan club. He, on the other hand, seems fascinated by her unique personality. AU, SxS, ExT, Slightly OOC
1. Prologue

Hi guys! So, this is the new edited prologue, I hope you like it!  
Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will, own Card Captor Sakura or any of its characters.

* * *

Tomoyo came out of nowhere. The girl had to be a ninja or something, for the way she snuck up and gave Sakura a heart attack nearly every day. You'd think that the brunette would get used to it, but she was so sneaky that Sakura was caught off guard every single time. It was amazing and frustrating at the same time. But mostly it was irritating, because after nearly every attack, Sakura ended up pinned to the ground underneath her ecstatic friend, who seemed to have a strange obsession with her.

"T-Tomoyo!" Sakura could hardly breathe let alone speak as she was crushed underneath her best friend's weight. "You're squashing me!" The sentence was quick and she barely managed to squeeze it out. Tomoyo rose gracefully from on top of her friend, smiling sheepishly as she held out her hand to help Sakura up. The brunette sighed and took it, finding herself suddenly on her feet once again.

"Sorry, Sakura. I just can't help myself sometimes. And I was already so excited, it was like seeing you just escalated it to new levels. You have that effect on me, you know." Tomoyo smiled brightly, flashing her pearly white smile. Sometimes Sakura wondered why she hung out with someone like her when she could easily be friends with anyone in the school. It made very little sense to her, but she appreciated the other girl being her friend anyway. Not many people in the school took that risk, considering Sakura's social status, and Tomoyo was paying for that risk. It seemed as if as soon as the girl had started hanging out with her, everyone else had shunned her.

Sakura sighed before smiling a little. "What's got you so excited? I might have to hunt it down so that my poor head doesn't keep hitting the floor so hard." She laughed a little, watching as Tomoyo laughed too. The two of them were closer than close. Nothing could tear them apart.

"Well…" The dark haired girl giggled, a light pink gracing her cheeks. "You'll never guess what just happened to me…" Tomoyo stared dreamily off into space for a moment, before returning her attention to Sakura. The brunette now had a sneaking suspicion about what had the girl so giddy. "I was just on my way to the class, and I was going through the hall…" Another giggle erupted from within the raven-haired girl, and Sakura sighed. The girl was growing steadily a darker pink. "Um, I was just walking down the hall, and out of nowhere Eriol popped up and stopped me. He seemed a bit nervous, and he kept biting his lip, so I thought maybe something bad had happened. But when I was about to ask him what was wrong, he just blurted it out!"

Sakura stared at Tomoyo blankly, waiting for her to specify just what it was that Eriol had blurted out. When it was apparent that the girl wasn't going to do so – she seemed to be off in some dreamland – Sakura cleared her throat.

"What did he blurt out, Tomoyo?" Tomoyo's face lit up even more, and something tripped an internal sensor in Sakura's head.

"He asked me out! Can you believe it? Eriol came and asked me to grab an ice cream sometime! Like, on a date! Sakura, he likes me! I could die of happiness!" The brunette stared in shock at her friend. Tomoyo grabbed at Sakura's hands suddenly, and pulled the girl around the classroom, dancing and laughing as Sakura attempted to keep herself from falling. The ground seemed more magnetic whenever Tomoyo was around.

"Tomoyo… You're gonna pull my arms off…" Sakura found herself suddenly in contact with her friend when the girl stopped abruptly. With no warning of this, she ended up running straight into the once-moving Tomoyo. And somehow despite the fact that Tomoyo had the appearance of a light, fragile girl, she was still solid as a brick wall when Sakura ran into her. The brunette ended up somehow on the floor, wincing at the pain that shot up her back.

"Oh sorry, Sakura. I was just so… Ah! I'm so excited I could explode! I mean, Eriol asked me out. ME!" Tomoyo held out a hand for her friend, which Sakura tentatively took. As soon as she was back in a standing position Sakura brushed herself off before turning to her friend.

"So… He asked you out?" Tomoyo nodded enthusiastically, biting her lip to keep from shouting again. "Oh Tomoyo, I'm so happy for you! I told you he liked you, he was just too shy to ask you! Oh, good for you!" Sakura smiled, and grabbed her friend's hands, squeezing them. Tomoyo grinned back, glowing with happiness. "So, when are you two going?"

"Well, we worked it out so that we can go after school today. You don't mind, do you? I mean, I know we usually walk home together, but this is the only day we are both free! Please say you don't mind!" Tomoyo looked at Sakura with pleading eyes, puppy expression working at max. Sakura sighed.

"It's fine, Tomoyo. I can walk home alone. I'm not a child, you know." As much as she said that, she was sort of sad inside. It was their tradition to walk home together until their paths divided. They'd been doing so since elementary school.

"Oh my god thank you!! Thank you so much, Sakura! I'll never forget this!"

Sakura smiled at her friend, happy that she was happy. If it was just this once… she could sacrifice their tradition just this once for her friend's happiness.

"Okay everyone, sit down." Sakura looked over her friend's shoulder to see Terada-sensei entering the room, a stack of papers in his arms. She released her friend's hands and sat down in her desk. Tomoyo did the same. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Terada-sensei!" The class responded in unison, and Sakura saw Rika smiling brightly up at their teacher.

"Okay then class, shall we start?" Sakura leaned forward in her desk, resting her head on her arms. Another day of boring classes. And at the end of this boring day, she would be walking home alone. Sighing heavily, Sakura closed her eyes and listened.


	2. Chapter One

Hey, yo! It's me, Silver. So, I've now edited the first chapter, obviously. I'm not really making good progress thanks to me being lazy, but I'm slowly getting it done. The latest chapters won't need as much editing as well, since they are most recent, so that will be faster.

Disclaimer: I seriously do not own Card Captor Sakura or any of its characters. Damn.

* * *

Chapter One: So, there's this new boy in my class…

The end of the day soon was looming upon her. Sakura waved to Tomoyo as she left with Eriol, but the girl was too wrapped up in her date to notice. Feeling slightly rejected, the brunette simply started packing up. She was slow about putting her things away, as if not having her bright eyed friend there was actually weighing her down. Her footsteps were slow and resounded with a dull thud as she finally left the classroom.

The trek home turned out to be even slower. Dinner was already ready and on the table when she finally arrived back at her residence, and her father wondered what on Earth took her so long. She made up some stupid excuse about helping with after school cleaning before dumping her bag at the bottom of the stairs and sitting at the table.

A good dinner was apparently all it took to cheer Sakura up a little, because right after she seemed to be her chipper self again. She raced upstairs, grabbing her bag on the way up. Upon reaching her room, she deposited the bag on her bed, homework being ignored for the moment. A second of fishing through the various papers and binders was all it took before she found her cell phone.

It seemed to take an eternity for the damn thing to turn on. When finally her familiar background popped up, she smiled. Suddenly, five messages flooded in, sending her phone vibrating like crazy. She waited as her old-as-the-dinosaurs phone loaded all of the messages, humming quietly to herself.

As per her expectations, all of the messages were from Tomoyo. All of them entailed details about the date, and described how she would be going on another one soon. Sakura smiled gently, truly happy that her friend was finally getting her wish. She sent a quick message back to her friend, congratulating her, before settling down on her bed.

Sighing heavily, she finally accepted her fate. She pulled some papers out of her bag, flicking through them. An expression of extreme concentration came upon her face, and she began the dreaded homework. When finally everything was finished, it was already ten thirty. She shoved everything unceremoniously off of her bed, jumping off herself in the process. Quick changing was followed by a dive bomb into her bed. She flicked off her lamp and set her alarm before snuggling under the covers, extremely content with herself.

* * *

When the alarm went off the next morning, it was met with an angry hand. Sakura grumbled wordlessly as she shifted around under her covers, attempting to find her way out. As soon as she found the edge of her blankets, however, she found also the edge of the bed, and proceeded to land in a jumble on the floor.

Curses left her mouth as she untangled herself, rubbing at the now sore spot on the back of her head. The morning began to slip past quickly as she changed into her uniform before grabbing a quick breakfast. Toast still hanging out of her mouth, she yelled goodbye to her dad, lunch in one hand and her backpack in the other.

The trek to school was quick, as she ran down the street. She arrived at the building early, breathing a sigh of relief. Slowing down to a casual walk, she entered the yard with the few others who happened to be early.

The classroom was slowly beginning to fill as she entered. Sakura headed straight for her own desk, setting her bag on top of it. A quick scan of the room revealed that Tomoyo wasn't there yet, which was highly unusual for the girl. Normally, Tomoyo was here bright and early, waiting for Sakura. The brunette sometimes wondered how the girl managed to get up so early without even looking the least bit tired.

Sakura waited patiently at her desk for Tomoyo to show, but after a while grew impatient. She looked to the door every few seconds, wondering where in the world her friend could be.

The answer provided itself when suddenly Tomoyo and Eriol burst through the doors, holding hands and laughing as if they'd heard the funniest joke in the world. For some reason, it grated on Sakura's nerves. She watched with a look of displeasure as the two ever so slowly made their way towards her. She tapped her foot impatiently as they stopped suddenly. Eriol was apparently saying goodbye or something, since he wasn't in their class first period.

It occurred to her that this boy was seriously getting on her nerves. The way he made Tomoyo giggle and blush… Wasn't Tomoyo supposed to just get all excited for her? Well, not in the lovey relationship sort of way, but Tomoyo was HER best friend, so she should be spending most of her time with the brunette. It irritated her that Tomoyo was paying more attention to this boy suddenly, when he hadn't even paid that much attention to her before now.

But they were a really new couple, so she supposed that was to be expected. Maybe after a week of two things between them would calm down? Sakura herself didn't have much experience with dating or relationships, never having had a proper boyfriend before. Perhaps it was about time to find one?

Sakura was pulled from her thoughts when Eriol finally decided to leave, and Tomoyo walked the final distance to her desk beside Sakura's. Somehow, Sakura was somewhat disappointed when there were no tackle hugs or anything. Tomoyo just sat down and stared dreamily at nothing. Though it was a little frightening to get attacked by her best friend, it was just plain weird to not have Tomoyo all over her. It made her feel sort of… lonely.

Sighing, Sakura sat down herself. She faced forward as Terada-sensei entered the classroom, folders and textbooks in his arms. He placed them on his desk before turning back to the class. A small clearing of his throat was all it took for the entire room to grow silent, all attentive suddenly.

"Today, class, we have a new student joining us. He is an exchange student who has come from all the way from Hong Kong, so treat him kindly. Please welcome Li Syaoran." As Terada sensei finished his sentence, there was the sound of the door sliding open. The entire class swiveled their heads to peer at the new student, obviously curious about what he would look like. There was a small amount of excited whispering as they waited in anticipation for him to enter.

The boy who entered was attractive, that was for sure. His chestnut hair was messy in a cool sort of way, and the autumn eyes that peeked out from underneath his bangs were striking. There was just something about him that was entirely… handsome.

Sakura decided she didn't like him. Not because of the way he looked – she wasn't shallow enough to base her opinions of people on looks – but because of the scowl that appeared to be permanently glued to his face. As he walked to the front of the class, he scowled. As he muttered something that sounded vaguely like a 'good morning,' he scowled. As he looked out over the students, apparently assessing his classmates, he scowled. It might have been that she was already in a bad mood, but something about it pissed her off.

The other girls in the class didn't seem to mind his angry expression as much as Sakura. They were all staring up at him, eyes sparkling and drool nearly coming off their mouths. Sakura rolled her eyes, returning her vision to the front where the boy was still scanning the class.

Suddenly, his eyes met hers. They caught for a second, taking longer than usual to look at her. She scowled right back at him, and he seemed almost surprised. But his gaze remained strong, and for a moment it seemed as if he was peering into her very soul. She glared at him, and finally his eyes left her, moving on to whoever else was next to be subjected to his piercing eyes.

"Ah, there appears to be a seat behind Kinomoto. Kinomoto, would you please raise your hand?" Sakura brought her attention to the Terada sensei again, realizing that the teacher was speaking to her. She nearly protested when her mind finally registered what he'd said, but she kept herself in check. Hesitantly, she raised her hand, indicating that she was indeed Kinomoto, and the spot he would be seated in was behind her.

Sakura cursed her bad luck as the boy spotted her raised hand and moved to the seat behind her. It seemed for a second that he paused at her desk, but Sakura just shook it off as paranoia. Upon hearing his seat rattle as he sat, however, she immediately felt as if he was glaring at the back of her head. The feeling continued throughout the entire period, making the brunette feel uncomfortable to say the least. She would have turned around and said something, but Terada sensei was lecturing the entire period, and she didn't dare interrupt.

* * *

The feeling continued until lunch. As it turned out, he had all the same morning class as her, and somehow he always ended up behind her. By the time the lunch bell rang, Sakura was about ready to pull out her own hair. She was tempted to say something to the new boy, but he was gone by the time she turned around to look for him. Sighing, she packed up and headed outside.

Sakura sat underneath the tree that had become her and Tomoyo's usual lunch spot, waiting for said friend. It had already been a few minutes without sign of the girl. This was strange since Tomoyo's before lunch class was right near the spot, and usually she was there before Sakura. The brunette grumbled to herself, unhappy with the sudden changes in her friend.

As she waited, she looked around the school yard. Since it was such a nice day, many people were also outdoors, enjoying their food in the sunshine. They sat in big groups, laughing and sharing food. There was the occasional loner, studying or eating their lunch quietly, but for the most part people were in larger groups. She was scanning these groups absentmindedly when suddenly she caught sight of someone coming out from the school.

The new boy – Li, was it? – seemed to be in a hurry as he traveled with his lunch, head swiveling from side to side as he appeared to be scanning the school yard. And then something else followed him out from the school. Sakura nearly choked on her food when a large group of girls suddenly exploded from the doors, following Li. There were dozens of them, all giggling and whispering and swooning.

It was enough to make Sakura gag.

She watched the group with disdain as they trailed after the new boy, taking a bite out of her onigiri. It sort of amused her, however, that someone was being subjected to such torture, especially since it was the boy who'd caused her so much discomfort without having actually met her. She figured it was karma of sorts.

It was around the time that Sakura was mentally cackling at Li's misfortune that Tomoyo finally showed up. The brunette swiveled her head around when she heard people approaching, and tried to force down a scowl when she saw both Tomoyo and Eriol walking towards her, hands intertwined. Of course Eriol would start eating lunch with them. He was Tomoyo's boyfriend after all.

"Afternoon, Sakura!" Tomoyo chirped, sitting down next to her best friend. "Sorry we're late, we had to make a bit of a detour. There were these girls crowding the hallway – I couldn't see what for – and they wouldn't let us through, so we had to go all the way around." As Tomoyo spoke, she unwrapped her lunch, which looked to be comprised of possibly the most expensive lunch foods Sakura had ever seen. She clapped her hands together, muttering a quick thanks under her breath before digging in.

Sakura sighed. She could only guess what a horde of girls was doing taking up the hallway, but she suspected that it had had something to do with the newly popular Li. It had only been half a day, and already that boy was causing her troubles. If this was any indication, then the rest of her day was going down the drain.

* * *

After lunch was math. Sakura groaned at the prospect of another period of the subject, despite the fact that she had it every day. Somehow, whining inwardly about the class never got old. But, seriously, how she did hate math. Not only was it her worst subject, it was also one of the few classes she had apart from Tomoyo. This was actually by the first reason she hated it, that being that she was horrible at it. Because she was so bad at it, she was forced to take the lower stream just to scratch by, and Tomoyo – being the genius she was – was of course in the highest stream. At least she wasn't in the bottom stream.

After much grumbling under her breath, Sakura eventually made her way to her seat and all but flopped into it. Her head the desk at a speed that made a painful sounding thump, and she groaned. It was still too early for the teacher to be there, but Tomoyo had snuck off with Eriol as soon as the first bell had rung. Stupid boy, taking away her best friend…

Sakura lifted her head when she heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor behind her. She turned slowly, looking inquisitively at whoever had chosen to sit behind her. Math was one of the few classes where everyone got to choose their own seat, so everyone opted to sit nowhere near her. Not that she minded, Sakura never really got along with everyone else anyway.

Somehow, Sakura was not surprised to see Li sitting in the desk behind her, scowl directed somewhere outside the window. She cleared her throat and he turned his scowl on her. She didn't even flinch.

"Um, why are you sitting there? You do know that you can sit wherever you want in this class, right?" He raised an eyebrow, and Sakura wondered if maybe he hadn't known this was a free-seating class. If that was the case, then he'd probably just get up right now and move-

"Well, I feel like sitting here. Is that a problem or something?" His words suggested naivety, but his tone said something else. It was sarcastic, and she felt the slight bit offended, though why she couldn't quite figure out. This boy just seemed so… rude.

"Why would you want to sit here? There are plenty of other open seats, where you won't have to sit beside anyone." She pushed further, almost trying to seem irritating just so he would move. She didn't feel like having his glare on the back of her head for another period.

"I just want to sit here."

"But, why?"

He shrugged. "'Cause."

"That's not an answer," she huffed, beginning to get irritated with the boy.

"Look, why does it matter so much to you?" Li shifted in his seat, giving her a bored stare.

"Cause it's the seat behind mine."

"So what?"

"Kay, could you just answer the question already?"

"Nah," he said, the tiniest of smirks settling on his face. Sakura felt the urge to just punch it off his face. "I don't feel like it."

"Would you just answer the bloody question?" Sakura stood as she nearly yelled the question at Li. His smirk grew in size as all the people in the class turned to stare at the girl. A blush spread out on her face as she sat back down swiftly, staring down at her binder in embarrassment.

Syaoran let the smirk fall from his face. His gaze trained itself on the back of Kinomoto's head, and he felt his thoughts suddenly buzzing. Upon setting foot in this school, he'd been met with only one type of girl. Those stupid shallow fangirls who followed him around, proclaiming how much they loved him. He laughed to himself. What in the world did they know about love? They just wanted him because of his looks.

Syaoran scoffed. It wasn't like he'd expected much more. If there was one thing he'd discovered in his fifteen years on this Earth, it was that most everyone in the world was the same. They just wanted status, and everyone, no matter who they were, was shallow to some extent.

So he'd been a bit taken aback when Kinomoto had scowled right back at him during his introduction, and then proceeded to completely ignore his presence the rest of the day. She hadn't once bothered to even look back at him, even though he knew all of the girls in every one of his classes had taken the time to sneak a peak at him at least once during the classes. So when she ignored him all the way to lunch, he decided he would do whatever it took to make this girl tick.

There were very few people that Syaoran ever got interested in getting to know nowadays. He'd learned somewhere along the line that most everyone was the same, and that was especially so for girls. But this girl, she was different. She got angry at him. That was something that hadn't happened to him for a long time. At least by a girl. He smiled. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all.

The teacher showed up pretty quickly after that, and class began. Scribbling something into his notebook, he tore out a page and folded it neatly before poking Kinomoto in the back with it. She didn't even look back, but instead sighed and ignored him. So, reaching forward, he dropped it over her shoulder, and it descended into her lap.

The girl picked up the note and opened it, reading quietly. Syaoran smirked. Any second now, she was sure to explode. But she didn't. Instead, she turned towards him, scowling all the while, and dropped the note back on his desk.

While this wasn't the reaction Syaoran had expected, it was at least something. Honestly, he'd expected her to stand up and yell at him, but she'd been rather calm about it. Okay, so maybe her temper wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Or maybe she was being mindful because she'd embarrassed herself earlier.

Realizing that perhaps he should be paying attention to the teacher, Syaoran ceased his actions. This sort of stuff could wait, he figured. After all, they had all year. Settling in, he looked to the front of the class.

* * *

After school, Sakura could be found waiting at the front long after all the kids without after school activities had gone home. She looked around her, obviously waiting for someone, though no one could be found near her. She was about to give up and search for her cell phone just to call Tomoyo, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey."

Sakura turned to see none other than Li, though he seemed to be missing his fan club. What, did they all have activities? More importantly, why was he leaving so late? Most people went home right away if they didn't have a club or something.

"Um, hi…" Sakura looked at LI, obviously confused. Why on Earth was he talking to her? A frown found its way to his face, completely at home there. Was it her, or was he always either scowling or smirking?

"Look, about the note…"

"Whatever. Just leave me alone, I'm kinda waiting for someone."

She turned away as Li began to look around, obviously for whoever she was waiting for. To be honest, she didn't mean to be rude. But his note from earlier had only served to make her bad mood worse, and she had been glad when their last few classes were not together. On top of her already worsening mood, now Tomoyo was not here, and she couldn't see the girl anywhere.

"Um, if you're looking for Daidouji, she left already."

"WHAT?" Sakura spun around so fast it was a wonder that she didn't fall over or something. Her voice nearly went shrill for a second, and Li seemed thoroughly startled by her outburst. He recovered after a second and responded to fully explain himself.

"Daidouji. That's who you're waiting for, right? I saw her leave earlier when I was still up in the classroom. She was with Hiiragizawa, I think."

"She… left? Without me?" Sakura felt any happiness she might have had hiding inside wither up and die. The thought that Tomoyo had left with Eriol, and not even told her she wasn't going to walk home with her again was just… depressing. She felt betrayed.

"I'm sorry."

Sakura looked up at Li again, obviously confused. "What for?"

"I dunno… because she left you? Just, sorry."

Sakura shook her head. "Nah, I should thank you. If you hadn't told me, I probably would have been waiting for much longer." The brunette tried to smile, not wanting to seem weak in front of Li. She refused to let this boy that had caused her so much irritation see her cry. But she was on the verge of tears. She had to get away before she snapped.

"Do you want me to walk you home or something?" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise before she shook her head. Hell, Li even looked surprised at himself.

"Nah, I'll be okay. Thanks for the offer." She turned from him, trying to make it seem like she wasn't desperate to just run home and cry. She heard him step forward and begin saying something, but then she felt the flood gates open, and set off at a sprint.

Li was left staring after her.


	3. Chapter Two

Ah, I did it again. That is, I kinda forgot that my stories exist and went off to do other things during my free time. I mean, I've had tons of free time, but I mostly spend it playing video games, like Pokemon or Bioshock. My bad. I'll try to edit a few more chapters before I run off for a bit again.

Also, I decided to put chapter three in here too, since it was really too short to be its own chapter.

Disclaimer/ I do not, nor will I ever, own Card Captor Sakura or any of its characters.

* * *

Chapter Two: I Won't Forgive You, Not Ever.

Sakura allowed her legs to carry her home, faster and faster until finally she tripped and ended up falling head over heels to the ground. Her heart was pounding, and now the various cuts and scrapes she may have gotten from her tumble were aching. She was out of breath. She didn't know what to think.

There were tears streaming down her face, landing with quiet plops on the pavement. Of all the things that Sakura found were aching that moment, she knew it was her heart that was hurting worst. Clutching at her chest, Sakura tried to steady her rapid breathing.

Why? Why had Tomoyo abandoned her? Why hadn't she at least told Sakura that she was going early? Why did she choose that boy instead of her best friend? Hadn't they agreed to always stick together? Didn't Tomoyo still love her?

Was Tomoyo gone forever?

"Why?" The single word escaped her lips as she sobbed quietly, not possessing the will to stand up and continue towards home.

"Sakura?" Said girl was surprised to hear a familiar voice, and spun around to see if it was indeed who she thought it was. She didn't even consider her probably red puffy eyes, or the tears on her face. "Sakura, what's wrong?" The brunette was greeted with the sight of Yukito, who was her brother's classmate and friend. The way his eyebrows curved gave away his concern for her. Sakura hiccupped and wiped at her eyes, in an attempt to rid herself of the evidence of her crying.

"I- I'm fine…" It came out as a whisper. She forced herself to smile at Yukito, who just sighed.

"A fake smile does not suit you, Sakura." With that, she found herself pulled into a tight embrace and one of Yukito's hands was stroking her head. "Don't try to hide your feelings."

A blush found its way onto her face. Yukito had been her longstanding crush from way back in the fourth grade, and she had only recently gotten over him. Or so she thought. Her heart managed to speed up as he hugged her. Lovely, just another problem to worry about.

Yukito stood up as he let go of her, bringing her up to her feet as he went. He smiled softly at her, and extended his hand. "Shall I walk you home? I have to bring something to Touya anyway." Sakura nodded silently, and the two walked back home hand in hand. Really, the man was too nice for his own good. It was no wonder she found herself falling for him all over again.

When they finally arrived at her house, it was far too soon for her. She quietly thanked him for everything before running up to her room, leaving a confused Touya and still concerned Yukito behind.

When she reached her room, she dug through her bag in search of her cell phone. Maybe Tomoyo had messaged her or something, explaining herself. But when she found the thing, there were no new messages, and she scowled. Having no homework today, she just lied down on her bed and scowled at the ceiling.

How could Tomoyo do that to her? Weren't they best friends? It was all Eriol's fault. He was the one who had taken Tomoyo away from her. He was the one who had split them apart. It was his fault that she was lying on her bed, on the verge of tears, scowling at the ceiling.

She cried herself to sleep that night.

* * *

The next day, Sakura was determined not to speak to her best friend. Ex best friend, actually, when she thought about it. No best friends of hers would ever do that sort of thing to her.

But what would she do all day, and at lunch? It wasn't as if she had other friends… Tomoyo was pretty much the only one. Sighing heavily, Sakura entered the school yard. It was then that she spotted Li, and couldn't help but be reminded of the incident after school the day before.

"_Do you want me to walk you home or something?"_

Confusion sprung up inside her as she considered it. Why would he offer something like that? Eager for a distraction, Sakura decided to approach him and find out his reasoning.

"Hey, Li!" She called out to him as she approached, and he turned, his expression revealing that he expected some fangirl or something. Relief flooded him as he saw that it was only her. He looked her over quickly slight concern etched into his features, leftover from the day before. She spoke again before he could even respond. "So, I was just wondering… Why exactly did you offer to walk me home?"

Li paused. He opened his mouth to answer, but then seemed to think better of it. Sakura watched as he glanced about, and she wondered what on Earth he could be thinking about. Wasn't it as simple as just answering?

"I… just felt like it."

"That's a stupid answer." Sakura scowled a little, frustrated with his usual answer for her questions. "No one just 'feels like' walking someone home. You have to have a real reason, so spit it out."

"Well, I did just feel like it, so I have nothing else to say to you." Li seemed almost nervous. He tried to walk away at that point, but Sakura grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Don't be an ass. I'm not done talking to you." It was at this point that Li's own fan club decided it would should, the apparent leader in front, hands on her hips. She cleared her throat, and both Li and Sakura looked over at her.

"Kinomoto, if you would be so kind as the Li alone. He obviously doesn't want you around, so please leave, or we will be forced to remove you personally." Some girls in the back nodded or affirmed with loud "yeahs," or "uh-huhs."

Sakura gritted her teeth and left. Li had never been more glad to have a group of creepy, stalkeresque girls following him around all the time. He smirked, and ignoring his fangirls left to head to the classroom. Except that was about when he remembered that Sakura sat in front of him. Damn.

The time until lunch was hell for Li, Sakura made sure of it. She was still angry with Tomoyo, so she directed her attention at Li, pestering whenever she got the chance. She asked questions whenever the teacher wasn't talking, which he avoided with expert skill, and passed notes to him whenever the teacher lectured.

After landing a kick at one of Li's feet, Sakura snickered. A heavy sigh came from behind her, and she was tempted to turn around and say something. But the teacher was talking and she didn't want to get in trouble of anything. It occurred to her that he could probably just turn her in for her actions, and she wondered why he hadn't. God, it couldn't be that he liked or something, could it? The thought was immediately put down. There was no way that jerk could like her. She wasn't even that pretty, though Tomoyo was always calling her cute.

Tomoyo. The thought of her best friend was like a knife to the heart. The pain was just as bad. Sakura had made the decision to ignore Tomoyo for her actions, and she intended to stick to that decision. She wouldn't even accept her apologies, even though the poor girl seemed on the verge of tears that morning. First thing she'd tried to apologize, but Sakura had ignored her. Tomoyo didn't deserve forgiveness, Sakura convinced herself. Not yet.

At lunch, Sakura sat by herself. She watched as Li walked around the school ground, obviously attempting to shake his fans, but to no avail. This cheered Sakura a little, though her dour mood returned when she saw Tomoyo approaching. The girl didn't have Eriol with her, but Sakura glared her down all the same. The raven-haired girl turned, head lowered, and vanished into the school.

It hurt to do this, Sakura realized. She didn't want to make Tomoyo cry, but what else could she do? It wasn't as if she could just pretend nothing ever happened, and she was sure no explanation Tomoyo ever gave would make what she did okay. But Sakura was beginning to wear down. Tomoyo was her best friend. How long could she ignore her like this?

Trying to cheer herself up a bit, she changed subjects in her head. Sakura found herself thinking about Li. The guy was such an ass, she mused, she wondered how girls could like her. He'd already rejected four separate girls who had confessed their love for him. From what she had heard around the school, he'd called them liars and said they were just the same as all the other girls. The hell did that mean?

Sakura sighed, mentally berating herself for caring. It shouldn't matter to her what Li said to those girls. They were cruel and shallow, the whole lot of them. Sakura wanted absolutely nothing to do with them, and they wanted nothing to do with her. Every last one of them was the same anyway.

"The… same?" It came out as a whisper as she suddenly realized what she had thought. She and Li… they thought the exact same thing about those girls! For a moment, she understood why he had rejected all of those girls. Suddenly, the boy seemed less rude, and more honest. He was just like her. He told people what he thought, even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear. And he didn't want to fit in just like that. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

'_Wait a second here!'_ Sakura yelled at herself in her mind, beginning to panic. '_That guy's an ass, remember? No need to get all chummy just because she have one thing in common! It doesn't mean anything!'_ Sakura nodded to herself, calming a little.

"It doesn't mean anything," she whispered to herself. But still, when Li stalked past with a horde of girls in tow, she couldn't help but smile, just a little.

* * *

The end of the day came rather suddenly to Sakura. She was just exiting through the school's gate, not even bothering to wait for Tomoyo, when she heard someone call out her name frantically.

"Sakura!" The brunette turned back, and seeing Tomoyo running at her, waving her hands, scowled. She turned away from the school and resumed her walking. But Tomoyo had other plans. She grabbed her best friend by the wrist and spun her around to face her. "Please, just listen to me, Sakura!"

Sakura was about pull her wrist from Tomoyo forcibly and walk away, but that was when she noticed the girl was crying, and had been all day, if her red eyes were any indication. Sighing, Sakura decided she couldn't do this anymore. Maybe if she just listened to Tomoyo… "Fine, start explaining."

"Y-you've been ignoring me all day… I just wanted to apologize, Sakura! I'm so sorry. It's all my fault! I didn't even think to tell you." Sakura scowled, getting ready to leave again. But Tomoyo held tight. "I'm so sorry!"

"You could have apologized yesterday, Tomoyo. What, did you not think of me when you got home, either? Were you so wrapped up in thoughts of your boyfriend that you couldn't even call your best friend to apologize? Do I mean so little to you, Tomoyo?" Sakura could feel her anger building. Her words were harsh, and Tomoyo flinched. But Sakura couldn't stop them. "I thought we were best friends?"

Tomoyo was silent for a moment, fear and sadness set into her expression. Sakura could see it in the girl's eyes. The girl's mouth opened, but it was like she couldn't find the right words, and she shut it again. Sakura wasn't sure she'd take any excuse the girl gave anyway.

"I… I wanted to call you, I did. I was gonna call you the moment I got home, and apologize." Tomoyo paused, and new tears sprung from her eyes. "But when I got home, mom found out about Eriol." There was a longer pause, where Tomoyo hiccupped and began to shake. "She got mad. She said I was too young to be dating, and that was disappointed that I hadn't asked her first. She grounded me, and wouldn't let me use the phone because she thought I would call Eriol. She made me break up with him, and told me if she found out we'd been seeing each other again, I'd get in trouble."

Sakura let the silence fall, shock written on her face. Sure, she had been insanely jealous of Eriol, and she'd wanted Tomoyo back, but she never would have considered trying to break them up. Tomoyo had wanted to date him for so long, there was no way she would even consider them breaking up. Tomoyo really liked the boy, after all.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura. I know what I did was wrong, and there's no way I can make it up to you. But you're my best friend, and I can't lose you just because I was stupid. Please, don't hate me…" Sakura felt her heart throb and knew immediately that she could never hurt Tomoyo by leaving her alone. Even if Tomoyo had left her, she could never do the same to the girl.

She stepped forward and pulled Tomoyo into her arms, hand moving up to stroke the girl's thick black hair gently. Tomoyo began to cry then, tears upon tears coming out and flowing down her face. "Hey now, it's gonna be alright…" Sakura wasn't sure of exactly what she was saying, she just knew she wanted to make it right. "Maybe if we go and explain the situation to your mom she'll understand. I'll go with you, even."

The raven-haired girl looked up hopefully at her best friend. "You'll help me? Really?" Sakura couldn't help but smile as she nodded into Tomoyo's hair. "Thank you so much, Sakura!" Tomoyo's cry was ecstatic as she tightened her hold on Sakura, hugging her close. "Thank you!"

"No problem, I mean, what are friends for?" Sakura pulled out of the hug and held out her hand for Tomoyo. "So let's go talk to your mom." Tomoyo took the hand excitedly and the two began to walk away from the school. "And Tomoyo?" It was tentative, like she maybe hadn't meant to say anything after at all. At the responsive noise from her friend, Sakura pushed on. "Could you maybe keep some time for me when we get your boyfriend back?"

Tomoyo flushed a little. "Of course, Sakura. Anything for you."


	4. Chapter Three

Ta-da, chapter three!

Disclaimer / I don't own CCS, blah blah blah.

* * *

Sakura flopped down on her bed. She sighed heavily and looked over at the computer screen. It was blank. She wondered absently if she had any new messages. Certainly none from Tomoyo, considering she was grounded from electronics. With another sigh, Sakura pushed up from her bed and headed slowly towards her computer, cursing her addiction to instant messaging and the internet.

When Sakura turned on her computer, a small box appeared telling her about a few new emails. It took a few seconds to clear through all the junk. Stupid advertisements… She hated all those emails telling she could win free stuff. It was all ridiculous. And those chain letters… Like, you'll die if you don't send this to ten people! God, what utter crap.

It was as Sakura was cleaning up her inbox she received a new email. She deleted the junk and refreshed her page. It was from an address she wasn't familiar with.

"Li… heir? Like, that Li kid from school? How did he get my email?" Her eyes narrowed. What could he want? Could it be that he was finally gonna tell her what he meant by asking to walk her home? Sakura opened the email eagerly, but was disappointed to see only a small line.

"_Finally apologized? Poor girl…"_

What? What in the hell was that supposed to mean? 'Finally apologized…' Was this guy spying on her? Of course! How else would he know? Unless he simply was passing by… But still! He could've let them know he was there. But somehow… That bastard didn't seem like the type. 'Poor girl.' So he was worried about Tomoyo? Nah, he was probably just fooling with her. Sakura frowned deeply and closed the email. Sighing, she swore she'd get him at school tomorrow.

* * *

Li entered the school grounds casually. He looked pretty cool from the view point of any fangirl. But to one particular girl, he looked like the devil in a boy's body. Li was about to enter the school itself when he was tackled and pushed up against a wall. His eyes widened as his back hit the wall painfully.

"What the hell?" he shouted, shaking his head so he could see properly again. That was unexpected. Who could've… He relaxed a little when he saw his attacker. "What is it you want, Kinomoto?" Li asked smoothly, acting as if she hadn't just thrown him into the wall.

Sakura was slightly less calm. In fact, she felt like biting the kid's head off. She wasn't sure what, but something about this kid made her tick. "You bastard!" She nearly screamed, attracting the attention of numerous people. "Why the hell are you spying on me? You creep!" Surprise filtered into Li's expression, despite the fact that he would obviously know what she was talking about. When Li gave no response, Sakura continued. "ANSWER ME!"

"Kinomoto." The voice was cold and hate-filled. Sakura turned her head. She was about to say something really nasty when a fist made contact with her cheek and she was sent to the ground. She growled before getting up quickly and looking at her attacker. She could hardly believe that THAT girl had hit her.

"We'd appreciate it if you would not bother Li. He doesn't need you constantly trying to pick a fight with him. Please exit his personal space immediately." It was the leader of his damn fan club. She was so prissy… Who knew someone like that could hit so hard? "Are you listening Kinomoto?" Sakura looked up from the ground at the girl. She had been thinking. "I asked you to exit Li's personal space."

Sakura sighed. She cracked her knuckles before smirking at the girl. "And if I don't?" She asked. The other girl seemed flustered suddenly. She obviously hadn't expected such a reaction.

"I… I will force you to leave!" she said, making herself sound as tough as possible.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. In a moment her fist had made contact with the girl's stomach and the girl was bending over, eyes widened in surprise. "I hate it when people act tougher than they are." The leader was quickly pulled away by her fellow club members. "Get outta my sight." Sakura said, glaring at the girls. "Unless any one of you wants some as well?" The girls backed off quickly and soon all of them were gone. "And you!" Sakura turned around to deal with Li, but he was gone. She cursed the stupid girls for letting him escape. Oh well, she knew that he sat behind her in class.

Li frowned as Kinomoto took her seat in front of him. The teacher wasn't here yet so… and she was turning around. There was a look of absolute malice on her face. "So," she said, quietly. It was extremely creepy. "What was with your email yesterday?" Li actually felt himself shiver. She was smiling really creepily. "Well?" Her voice was almost sweet. But it had such an edge to it that he knew it was anything but sweet.

"Umm…" he said, trying to buy himself time. But the teacher shouldn't be coming for another few minutes. He was on his own. Or so he thought.

"Sakura!" Kinomoto was actually pushed out of her seat by the force of her friend. Daidouji had actually attacked Kinomoto with a hug. Li believed the correct term was 'glomp.' He chuckled in disbelief as Daidouji stood up and smiled at Kinomoto.

"Sakura! So you're coming over tonight, right? To talk to my mother?" Tomoyo said, smiling brightly. Sakura sighed. Tomoyo had actually just glomped her. And she had been so close to getting an answer out of Li! "Tomoyo…" Sakura said, irritation in her voice. "Why do you have to attack me every time you see me?"

Tomoyo frowned. "But Sakura-chan!" she whined, looking extremely adorable as she puted to her best friend. "When I see you looking so cute, I can't help myself! You were so serious! What were you talking to Li-kun about? Were you confessing feelings towards him?

Sakura and said boy both looked at Tomoyo, then at each other, then back at Tomoyo. Light blushes blossomed on their faces before they both quickly began to object to Tomoyo's question.

"Tomoyo, it's not like that! As if I could have feelings for this annoying, selfish bastard!" Sakura nearly shouted, but she managed to keep her voice down..

"Daidouji! Kinomoto doesn't like me." He stopped momentarily, looking over at Sakura with an odd look on his face. "Does she?"

Sakura looked at Li, enraged. "Of course not! You stupid bastard, how could anyone with a brain like you? I'm not some stupid girl who just likes boys for looks!"

Li smirked. "So you're saying I'm good looking?"

Sakura stopped to look at him. Her mouth opened, as if she had something to say, but was too shocked and caught off guard to actually get it out. She stared at Li for a few moments before glaring. "That is not what I was saying at all you pompous bastard!" She looked about ready to yell at him some more to defend herself, but the door suddenly opened, and the teacher entered.

"Everyone get to your seats." Terada sensei said, looking over at the group in the back. Sakura growled and sat down in her seat. Li smirked. Tomoyo just smiled as she sat down. She looked over at the two, thoughts and ideas already formulating in her head.

"Now class… Shall we begin?"

* * *

It was lunch. Sakura sat underneath the tree that she and Tomoyo always sat beneath. She grit her teeth in anger, attempting to not say anything harsh to her friend. But Tomoyo wouldn't stop talking. And in every second sentence she mentioned that stupid bastard! Not even. All she could talk about was Li.

"So Sakura, how long have you liked him? Do you plan on asking him out? When will you confess?" Tomoyo asked all these questions and more in rapid succession. Sakura sighed heavily. This was getting really annoying.

"Tomoyo… I. Do. Not. Like. Him!" Sakura nearly screamed at her friend, before settling down to eat her lunch. Tomoyo just smiled brightly took a bite of her own lunch. After a moment to properly chew and swallow, she responded to her friend.

"You know, Sakura, denying it will prove nothing. You just have to come to terms with your feelings and everything will work out. You're so cute, how could Li resist? I mean, if I were a guy, I'd be all over you! You're just too cute!" There was a short squeal inserted there, as Tomoyo no doubt imagined something ridiculous.

Sakura blushed a little at her friend's words. "Tomoyo!" she whined, looking very annoyed. "Stop it! You're really starting to bug me! I mean, he's such a jerk! How could anyone with a brain like him? Girls that like him are just either trying to fit in or are obsessed with looks. Probably both, even." Sakura sighed. She looked away, determined not to talk about it anymore.

She didn't like him, right? True, he was like no other guy she had ever met, but he ticked her off like crazy. She couldn't remember that last time someone had managed to annoy her so much. Of course she had never allowed anyone else besides Tomoyo to tick her off so much, and she had never given a guy this much thought. Except Eriol, but that was because he had taken Tomoyo away from her, so the reasoning was sound.

* * *

Li frowned. There were masses of girls hovering around him. He had done everything he could think of. He had glared at them. They had swooned. He had asked them to leave. They had ignored him. And swooned. He had done all manner of rude and angry things, but they just swooned. He was getting so friggin' annoyed! Didn't they have anything better to do? Didn't they eat? God, they were just so annoying!

He sighed and looked down at his lunch. He had finally decided to sit down because trying to run proved ineffective. With another look around, Li dove into thought. He wondered about Kinomoto. Why was she so different from everyone else? She allowed her true personality to shine through, without regard to how it affected her social standing. She didn't seem to care what others thought of her. Li supposed as long as she had Daidouji, she'd be fine. This would explain her obvious distress when Daidouji had left without her after school that other day.

Li smiled. He was finally starting to make sense of Kinomoto's head. She was a difficult one to crack. But eventually, he'd have her figured out. He always figured people out. No matter how obscure and strange they were, he could always figure them out. Because that was what he did. He unraveled their minds and found out how they were just like everyone else. In his mind, everyone was the same in the end. And Kinomoto would prove to be no different.

* * *

Tomoyo was practically dragging Sakura towards her house. She had already called her house to say she would be staying at Tomoyo's for dinner and maybe overnight. Thank goodness for the weekends. They were Sakura's saviour.

Tomoyo nearly barged through the door when they reached her house. "Mom!" she shouted, smiling wildly. "Sakura's staying over! And we need to speak to you!" Tomoyo dragged Sakura through the house, in search of her mother. It was all Sakura could do to keep up so Tomoyo wouldn't end up ripping her arm right off. "Mom!"

At this time a servant appeared. The two paused in their search to ask him where Tomoyo's mother was, though his response was anything but what they had wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, Miss Daidouji, but your mother has gone on a business trip. She will not be back until Monday." The servant explained, before bowing and leaving the room.

Tomoyo looked distraught. "But that's not fair!" she whined, grabbing Sakura's arm and giving it a squeeze. Sakura flinched. She was stronger than she looked. "I wanted to talk to her!" Tomoyo could be very immature when other people weren't around. When it was just the two of them, she was known to become even more hyper than usual, as frightening as the idea was.

Sakura sighed. "We'll talk to her when she gets back, Tomoyo-chan!" She said, patting Tomoyo on the head. "For now, let's get something to eat! I'm starving." Tomoyo looked up brightly.

"Right!" She said, pulling Sakura once again by the arm towards the kitchen. The brunette smiled at the back of her friend's head, glad to have her old friend back. It seemed like maybe things were looking up. "We'll get you some food right away!"


	5. Chapter Four

Disclaimer / I don't own CCS.

* * *

It had been a night of junk food and scary movies. Sakura had clung to Tomoyo for dear life, not allowing her fear of horror films ruin her best friend's mood. In order to prevent nightmares on Sakura's part, they had watched a comedy before finally going to bed at around five in the morning. Or rather, talked in quiet voices in their sleeping rolls until both finally drifted off at some time around six.

It was only natural that the next morning (afternoon, almost), Sakura awoke groggy and with a large scale stomach ache. She attempted to fall back asleep, but the light streaming in through the window prevented her from that.

"Tomoyo… Ugh…." The poor brunette whined for her friend, who was already up and reading in the next room. "Tomoyo…? God, I'm awake… please come save me from post-sleepover sickness?" Her best friend swept into the room, a huge smile on her face. Upon seeing her friend, the smile widened, and she pounced. Sakura let loose a high-pitched scream as she was tackled. "Tomoyo, gerroffa me!" Said friend obliged, but not before squeezing Sakura nearly to death with a hug.

"Sorry Sakura…" her friend said apologetically, though the smile never left her face. "You're just so cute when you're all tired in the mornings. I couldn't help myself." Sakura sighed. She smiled back at her friend, not being able to stay angry with her for any amount of time, especially after their fight only days before. "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course, silly." Sakura sat up. "Now… what's for breakfast?"

* * *

After eating a delicious feast of a breakfast prepared by Tomoyo's home staff – though it didn't quite compare to her father's cooking – the two girls decided to go to the mall. Well really, Tomoyo insisted upon going, despite the fact that Sakura had no money. When said broke girl reminded her friend of that, Tomoyo just offered to buy whatever Sakura wanted. Damn rich people, throwing money around. If Tomoyo wasn't so god damn friendly, you'd easily mistake her for a rich, snobby brat. But fortunately for Sakura, she was the most amazing friend on the earth, who happened to love buying things for her. She didn't mind, and had gotten over the guilty feeling rather early on in their friendship.

Shopping with Tomoyo was… exhausting, to say the least. She was forever convincing Sakura to try on ridiculous outfits, buying all of the ones she thought looked good. Which happened to be most of them. In fact, by the time they stopped for lunch, Sakura had a good six or seven bags full of new outfits. Maybe she'd need to get her closet enlarged some time.

As the girls sat down with their fast food at an empty table, they chatted about random topics lightly. Sakura may have found shopping tedious and tiring, but it distracted Tomoyo from her depression over Eriol. And to make her best friend happy, Sakura would traverse to the ends of the Earth.

* * *

Syaoran groaned as his mother dragged him through the mall. She had pulled him along to help her carry bags and such for her and keep her company while she bought clothes. To Syaoran, this was the most boring and worst activity in the world. He hated going to the mall. Not only because he hated waiting as his mother tried on clothes, but also because he figured his stupid fangirls would probably be there, and would bother him the moment he was noticed. Because really, it was a Saturday at the mall. Just about every girl was probably going to be there at least hanging out.

He was just heading towards some older women's store with his mother when a certain store caught his eye. It was favourite one, though he hadn't known they had a branch way out here. The type of clothing sold there was just his style. Knowing there was a store here, he couldn't resist. He convinced his mother to let him go, then walked happily into the store.

What awaited him there put a damper on his mood immediately. Just coming out of the changing rooms was a certain brunette with a habit of pestering him. He frowned, mourning the fact that he couldn't possibly look around his favourite store when Kinomoto was in there without being spotted by her, and subsequently pelted with questions. He'd have to come back at a later date. Before leaving, he chanced a glance at the girl. Kinomoto smiled at her friend Daidouji as the other girl applauded her outfit. It was only then that Syaoran took the time to look at what she was wearing.

The piece was stunning. A pleated gray skirt combined with blue and black plaid knee-high socks and a black graphic tee. Lacy fingerless gloves adorned her wrists, and a pinstripe hat sat perfectly on her head. Of course, Syaoran wasn't used to seeing Kinomoto wear that kind of thing. He generally saw her at school, in her uniform like everyone else. To say that this style suited her would be an understatement. He felt blown away by the image before him.

As this thought pushed its way into Syaoran's mind, he felt his face heat up. Damn it all. He had to get away before Kinomoto's new look got to him. So many girls he knew were preppy and wore too much pink. Knowing that the one girl he found himself fascinated by shared his taste in clothes was somewhat… what? Disturbing? Scary? Appealing? He didn't know. Half of him shied away from the thought of Kinomoto being more than an interesting test subject. But another, suddenly larger part of him, wanted something more out of this strange relationship. That part wanted the strange girl to consider him more than some stupid boy that she hated. This in itself was terrifying.

Syaoran had never considered anyone to be on the same level as him. He had always presumed that everyone around him was just mindless and couldn't think on their own without the approval of society. But for the first time in a very long time, he felt unsure of this philosophy. Could there possibly be someone who wasn't a simpleton following the structured plan of this world's superiors? Why exactly did seeing Kinomoto dressed like that cause him to be so… well, like this? It made him angry. He slipped away from the shop, opting to return to his mother.

* * *

His mother decided finally that they ought to get some lunch. But Syaoran immediately wished he could disappear upon entering the food court. For sitting at one of the tables was none other than a large crowd of his ever so devoted fangirls. Why was life so unfair? Couldn't he avoid them for even one day? This was sure to turn into a disaster, and quickly.

He was about to suggest going to a place better than the food court for lunch to his mother when suddenly it happened. One of them spotted him. A screech erupted from her lips, and suddenly every girl at that table turned to look at him. His mother didn't seem to notice and ran off to grab her food, assuring her son that she'd 'be back in a second.' Syaoran was absolutely sure that all those girls needed was a second to rip him apart. That glint in their eyes was horrifying. This was it, wasn't it? They looked as if they might rape him. He was scared for his life. Suddenly, they were all coming at him, saying his name, asking if he would marry them, pleading for his phone number, wondering what he was doing at the mall. He wanted to scream and run for cover. But before he could manage one word, a loud, familiar voice boomed over the fangirls'.

"Hey, don't you have something better to do? Can't you go off and bug some other mall? You're contaminating my air space here!"

Syaoran spun to see HER, sitting at a table with Daidouji, wearing a smug look on her face and holding a pop in her hand. She stood abruptly, sending half his little fan club scattering. They must have remembered the incident with the president. The rest stood strong, glaring at her.

"What, didn't you hear me? Scram, we don't need parasites like you infecting our mall." The remaining girls stalked off slowly, muttering about rude bitches and stupid tomboys. Syaoran stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do next. He decided to go up to her table, risking the smug look and rude comments.

"Uh, thanks I guess."

Kinomoto studied him for a second. "For what? If you hadn't been here at all I wouldn't have had to raise my voice at all. Besides, who wants stupid bimbos like that taking over the one good mall in town? I probably would've sent them off eventually. Can't stand those girls."

"That makes two of us…" Syaoran muttered, not intending for her to hear it.

"Heh. What? You don't enjoy being pestered by hordes of rabid admirers twenty-four seven? And I figured you were the kind of guy to like that kind of attention." She shrugged. "I guess I owe you five bucks, Tomoyo."

And that was it. Syaoran felt his eye twitch and he went off to find his mother before he lost it. He could hear her laughing as he walked away. This was the first time someone had grated against like his nerves like that. At least in a very long time. How could she possibly be so infuriating? She was so obnoxious, with that smug grin plastered on her face. It was like she thought she was somehow better than him, and it pissed him off. And in other ways, intrigued him. He couldn't help it. She was by far the most fascinating person he had ever met. Suddenly, he was overpowered by the desire to find out everything about her.


	6. Chapter Five

Disclaimer / I don't, nor will I ever, own Card Captor Sakura.

* * *

The weekend was over, sadly enough. School had to begin again, bringing despair and torment to the students of Tomoeda High. And burning quests to others. It distressed Sakura to some extent that she had forgotten to question Li at the food court about his behaviour around her. She would have had the perfect angle too! Tell him he owed her for saving his butt from the rabid fan girls. Though, knowing him, it probably wouldn't have worked, anyway. He was so stubborn. It didn't seem like she was going to get anything out of him any time soon. But she could be just as stubborn. She _would_ find out what exactly was his problem.

As Sakura and Tomoyo approached the school, she saw him. He was walking casually past the gate, followed by a group of at least twenty girls. This posed a problem. Now, if she could scare them away like she had at the mall, then that would be a whole new story. But at school, they had the teacher's on their side. They wouldn't give up so easily here. And if she tried to fight them, they might actually grow brains and tell a teacher, which meant trouble for her. She was currently on the teachers' good sides, though that could change at any moment. And she really needed to be on their good side, considering her grades weren't the best. Tomoyo had offered to help her… but she wouldn't accept help from her friend. It seemed wrong to her.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Getting Li to admit why he acted so strangely around her.

"Sakura…" Tomoyo's voice broke through Sakura's concentration. She looked up at her friend, an expectant expression on her face. "Have you ever considered… you know… that perhaps Li treats you differently because maybe he… likes you?"

Sakura burst into laughter at that. "Are you kidding me? Him like me? That bastard only cares about one person, and that's himself! He's such a self-absorbed bastard! Why would he like someone like me?" She paused to put in another laughing fit, tears coming to her eyes. "Oh, that's a good one, Tomoyo. Li likes me… yeah right." Tomoyo sighed. An annoyed smile graced her lips as she followed Sakura to class.

'You'll see, Sakura. I'll prove that he likes you, even if I have to squeeze the confession out of him.'

* * *

Syaoran sighed as he sat in his designated seat. He pulled out his finished homework from last night and began looking over the answers again. But he found himself looking up when he felt a presence in front of him, followed by the sound of a chair scraping and a determined voice.

"So… I got a question for ya."

Syaoran sighed as he recognized her face. He put his pencil down. "I'm not giving you any of my answers," was his simple answer, his voice kept carefully even and uninterested. Sakura raised a brow and smirked.

"I don't need your homework, bastard. I did mine. But… I was wondering…" Syaoran didn't like that expression. There was a glint in her eyes. "You act different around me. I mean, every other girl in this school might as well be the scum on your shoe in your eyes…" He gulped. This was heading in a bad direction. "But I could very well be the only one you actually pay any attention to. Now, what I want to know… is why exactly that is." Her smirk was sitting on her lips, annoying Syaoran to no end. How could she possibly be so smug? It was as bad as that time in the mall.

He needed to think. Fast. How was he supposed to answer her question? He didn't know the answer himself. Somehow, this stupid girl had managed to frustrate him to no end. She struck nerves he didn't even know he had. "You get what you give, Kinomoto. If you're going to be an ass to me, I'll be an ass to you."

Sakura snorted. "Don't give me that bullshit, Li. You started this. Remember, with the note?" Oops, he had forgotten about that. Wow, this girl could hold a grudge. "You were rude first. So what's with you? And that one time, why'd you offer to walk me home? One minute you're a jerk and the next you're being all warm and nice. What gives?"

He glanced around the classroom, searching for something to save him. Anything would do. A distraction, a fan girl, the teacher, even! Someone had to save him from her!

Sakura had Li right where she wanted him. He was looking frantically around the classroom, searching for something to save him. But nothing could help him now. She _would_ find out why he treated her differently. Though he really didn't know what to say to her, because he didn't honestly know that well himself. He supposed he'd just have to tell her it was because she stuck out so much. Suddenly, Li looked down into his lap. It was a defeated position Sakura smiled. Now she would get her answer.

"You see… it's because I-" The bell rang as Li finished his sentence, deafening Sakura. She couldn't hear the rest of his answer. "What was that? I couldn't hear you over the bell."

"Kinomoto, please turn around in your seat so we can start the lesson." Sakura took one last glance at Li before sitting down properly. He looked relieved. But she would get him to spill eventually. Even if it took weeks, she'd find out his motives.

Li sighed, obviously uncomfortable with what had transpired. He somehow knew that Sakura was stubborn enough to keep this up for days, weeks even. It was going to be a long time, since he refused to answer a question he himself didn't know the answer to.

* * *

Lunch was… interesting. Kinomoto approached him immediately, obviously trying to get the answer out of him again. But she was cut off by his fan club, the girls glaring as she tried to get past to speak to him. One girl told Kinomoto that if she wanted to speak to Li, she would have to join the club, and that successfully sent her running. Apparently having anything to do with the legions of screaming girls made even that stubborn girl rethink her strategy.

The rest of the day continued in that sort of fashion, with Kinomoto attempting to pull the answer from him, while always being distracted or sent off in some way. In math class she nearly got a confession, but the leader of his fan club was in this class, and she rudely asked Kinomoto to get out of Li's face. The two girls nearly started a fist fight right there in the class, but the teacher entered in time to stop it.

This was getting somewhat ridiculous. It seemed that Kinomoto would stop at nothing in order to pull the answer from him. He almost began to believe she would follow him home just to get the answer. But his savior came during the next period, when Daidouji demanded that her friend would come over after school in order to help convince her mom to allow her to date, like she had promised. Hm… was that what that was about? Memories of the best friends' fight came to him. Well, it made sense.

But knowing suddenly that Kinomoto would do that for her friend made him uncomfortable. If something went wrong, Daidouji's mother could end up hating her. If Kinomoto was the kind of person who would risk losing everything for her friend's happiness… things were getting complicated. He couldn't understand this feeling of appreciation for her courage that was washing over him. Knowing that she was so much deeper than people gave her credit for… everyone in this school seemed to see her as an outsider. It was like she was the scum of the school. But she was so much more than anyone else in this school. And he couldn't understand why he felt such a strong pull towards her presently. It was almost frightening.

But then she resumed her pestering, and Syaoran returned to trying to ignore her. He could only be glad that his last few classes were not with her, so he had some peace of mind before going home.

Sakura waited patiently for Tomoyo to join her at the gate. Today they were going to confront her mother about Eriol and dating. The thought itself terrified her, but she knew this was what she had to do. Even if Tomoyo left her again, she knew she had to put her best friend's happiness first. Tomoyo had been her only friend for the longest time. It was about time she gave something back.

As she waited, Sakura noticed a certain boy passing by. She smiled evilly. Perfect. Now she had another chance to get the answer out of him. "Oi, Li!" She could hear him groan as she jogged towards him. "So… ready to give yet? Cause you know, I could do this for a looooong time. It's all a matter of willpower. Still wanna see who has more? I could last for years, I'm sure."

Li turned to her, frustration evident on his face. Without even meaning to, words being to slip out. "Why does it matter if I treat you a little bit different? I mean sure, I may have started it with that note, but you were so WEIRD how could I not? I'm sure that's why you've only got one friend, who would easily give you up in exchange for a boy! You're just so annoying! I don't see how anyone can put up with it! No wonder everyone in the school thinks you're a freak!"

It stung. She should have been used to this. People had been making fun of her for years. Ever since she had come to this stupid town. But this… To hear the words from his mouth _hurt_. She wasn't sure why it pained her so much. Maybe because she had thought him better than this. He seemed like so much more than anyone else in this damned town. Any guy would've died of happiness if they had a fan club. Li said they were annoying and hated them. Anyone else would have given in to her pestering long ago. He persevered, trying to stand against her. But suddenly he was just like them. He hated her, like the rest of them. And it hurt.

She lowered her head, staring at the ground. Tears sprung up in her eyes, and she tried desperately to hide them. She wouldn't let this boy see her cry. Not this was how he really felt.

"Well then…" Her voice was surprisingly even for the rage of emotions inside her. "I suppose that's it then. I get it. I'll just… leave you alone then. I mean as long as you hate me… I'll just… go." She choked before the last word, trying too hard to keep her tears back.

She spun around and headed back to the gate, not bothering to hear him respond or see his face. Sakura knew what it would look like. He would be so relieved, happy of course to know she wouldn't be his problem anymore. He must have been so joyous to know she would stop ruining his reputation by associating with him. Of course, he'd be glad to have her out of his hair. Anyone would.

She heard footsteps and looked up, expecting Tomoyo. She wanted so badly to rush at the girl, rush into her arms and cry onto her shoulder. But what she saw was not her best friend, smiling at her. What she did see was an apprehensive and worried Li, approaching cautiously. Rage flared up within her.

"Sakura… I didn't mean to… I mean I didn't-"

"Oh just shut up, Li! I already get it! You don't have to ask nice just because… well I don't know, but you don't have to pretend for me! I know you hate me. I know that you wish I'd leave you alone. So there, now I will. Are you happy? Why can't you just leave me alone? Haven't you said enough?" Sakura glared at him through her tears, no longer caring if he saw them. She hoped he felt guilty because of them. She hoped he would forever beat himself up for hurting her like this. But maybe that was too much to ask. He probably didn't care if she was crying. He was probably just coming back to make sure she was telling the truth about leaving him alone.

"Sakura? Are you alright?" Both Li and Sakura spun to see Tomoyo coming towards the gate, worry plain on her face. She looked from Sakura's tears to Li and frowned. "What the hell did you do to her?" Li's eyes widened and he backed away a little. "What did you do to her? I swear, if you hurt her, I'll hunt you down and make you wish you were never born! Now what happened here?"

Both Sakura and Li blinked. Li was terrified. This girl wasn't the one he was used to. Sakura seemed surprised too. "Tomoyo…" She looked at Li, and her anger spiked again. "It's nothing." Her tone was flat. "I was just… waiting for you. Li stopped to ask me to stop bothering him, which I will." She looked meaningfully at Li, and he bit his lip, like he wanted to say something but was too afraid of Tomoyo to say it. He sighed in defeat and left the scene, evidently to head home. Tomoyo turned to Sakura as soon as he was gone and pulled her into a hug. Sakura felt tears rush to her eyes again and she cried silently into her friend's soft black hair.

"Shhh… Sakura, it'll be okay. It's alright, I'm here. Everything is fine. You'll be okay." Those soft words of comfort soothed Sakura's raging emotions as she fought to understand why it hurt so much inside. Why did his words affect her in this way? When had his opinion become so important to her? "Are you alright?" Tomoyo's voice pulled her from her thoughts. She nodded slowly, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Well then… are you sure? We don't have to go right away…"

But there was turmoil in her voice. Tomoyo wanted to go home now, so that they could speak with her mother. She wanted _her_ problems resolved. Sakura pulled away and sniffled a little.

"It's alright, I'm fine." She wiped away the last of the tears and straightened herself. "Well then, let's go confront your mom!" Tomoyo smiled brightly and practically dragged Sakura away from the schoolyard. Once they were walking at a more practical pace, they began to discuss strategies. Should they ask first? Explain that Eriol wasn't like other boys? Force her to accept that Tomoyo was old enough to date? It was hard to tell with her mother. She was hardly home… so getting to know her weaknesses was difficult. But they had to try, right?

* * *

"Mrs. Daidouji, I would like you to consider allowing Tomoyo to date Eriol!"

Tomoyo's mother stared blankly at Sakura for a moment, surprised by the direct and sudden approach at the subject. She had just sat down with the two girls. They had told her they needed to discuss something important with her. She had gladly agreed to listen. But it was this again? She wouldn't allow for it.

"Sakura, I'm sorry, but Tomoyo is just too young for dating."

"But please listen! Eriol is a good kid! And you've raised her with good morals, so you know she isn't going to get herself involved in anything bad! She promises to keep her grades up, and she'll tell you about everything that happens. Please, you have to understand!"

"Sakura, _you_ have to understand. I simply cannot allow my young daughter to date some unknown boy. I won't allow it. This is the end of this discussion."

"No it isn't!" Sakura cried, gritting her teeth. She _needed_ to convince Tomoyo's mother to let her daughter date Eriol. She would risk her own friendship in this attempt, if she had to. "I NEED you to understand! This means the world to Tomoyo-chan! We've known Eriol since elementary and I say myself that he is the most respectable, good boy I've ever met! Please! You need to give her this one little thing! It's so important to her!"

"Sakura Kinomoto! I would never have expected this sort of behaviour from you!" Sakura flinched when Tomoyo's mom raised her voice, shying away. "You were always so good and respectful! What happened to that caring young girl? If this is how you treat your elders, I may not want you hanging around my daughter!"

He brunette nearly burst into tears right there. How could she get this across? She didn't want to lose Tomoyo for nothing. But there seemed no way to convince her mother. And now she was saying she didn't want them hanging out… what was she meant to do? She couldn't lose Tomoyo again, and leave the girl alone.

"Mother, please!" Tomoyo's voice caused both of the arguing women to look her way. It was pleading, like the voice of someone begging for their own life. "Please mother… Don't put this upon Sakura! I was the one who asked her help. I just want to date Eriol so badly…"

"You put your best friend up to this? Tomoyo… I am disappointed with you. How could you have risked your friendship like that? I thought I would've taught you better than that. But regardless, I will not allow you to date this boy. I'm sorry." Her mother looked exhausted. But Tomoyo just frowned.

"You don't understand!" Her voice was suddenly loud and accusatory. "You've never given me anything I really wanted! You're always gone; I never get to see you anymore! How could you possibly understand my feelings about him? I LOVE Eriol! Why can't you just let me have this one thing? Why do you always have to be so cruel?"

Sakura and Mrs. Daidouji were flabbergasted. Here was the most calm, sweet girl they had ever known, screaming at her own mother. It was Tomoyo's mother that finally broke the silence.

"Daughter… You don't understand-"

"No, you don't understand mother. I'm dating Eriol, and that's that. I don't care if you won't allow it. I'm going to date him whether you like it or not. And don't try to stop me!" Tomoyo looked on the verge of tears. She loved her mother so much… but this was something she needed to do. Sakura stood silently by her friend, squeezing her hand tightly. After this, Tomoyo would need her support more than ever.

There was a long silence, where Tomoyo's mother appeared to be either in shock or thoroughly thinking over the situation. When she finally opened her mouth, Sakura's breath caught in her throat. This was the make it or break it point.

"Alright. I suppose… I'll allow this for a while. But you must bring him over to dinner some time soon. I will choose if he is suitable as a boyfriend for you _after_ I've met him. Is that clear?" The two girls blinked. Sakura was the first to register what happened, and released the breath she'd been holding. Tomoyo followed soon after, and the joy on her face was like nothing Sakura had ever seen before. The black-haired girl nearly tackled her mother as she ran to hug her.

"Thank you so much, mom. I promise that you'll like him."

* * *

It was set so that Eriol would go to the Daidouji's house (more like mansion) for dinner and to meet Tomoyo's mother the next Friday. Until then, Tomoyo could see him, but they couldn't go out on dates or anything of the like. The week dragged on ever so slowly, so slowly that by the time it was only Wednesday, Tomoyo was impatient and Sakura was bored.

"Ah! Why can't it be Friday already? I just want to hang out and see what your mom thinks of Eriol… The suspense is killing me! Honestly, I don't think I've had a week go by so slowly in my entire life!" Tomoyo just smiled as her friend complained, opting to sigh somewhat impatiently. It was lunch, and the two girls were eating with Eriol, since Tomoyo was allowed to be around him again. The poor boy had been ecstatic when they'd told him about their confrontation of Tomoyo's mother. He couldn't wait to prove himself in Mrs. Daidouji's eyes.

"Hmm… Hey guys, I'm gonna head off to the washroom, kay?" Sakura stood slowly. This was really just to give them a bit of time alone, since they couldn't get that outside of school without it being considered a 'date.' She smiled sweetly before running off back towards the school, in search of a window to watch them from.

* * *

Syaoran just barely managed to escape his fan club as he ran to the school. He slipped around a corner and hid in an empty classroom, breathing only after all of them had run by, calling out his name. With a sigh of relief, he slipped out of the classroom, in search of a better hiding spot. If this kept up, he could become a champion runner when he was older.

He trudged down the school hall, occasionally checking around a corner to see if the coast was clear. He feared that at any moment the club would appear from thin air and mob him. A shiver ran down his spine. Now that was a terrifying thought. More terrifying than seeing Daidouji when she was angry, maybe.

Syaoran sighed as he remembered that. He hadn't meant to make Sakura cry, and how was he supposed to know saying those things would hurt her feelings? Though what he'd said had been pretty cruel. But everyone around her treated her the same way. What could one more person being mean to her do?

A lot, apparently. The poor girl had seemed distraught when he screamed at her, and he immediately had wished he could have taken the words back. Unfortunately, when he had tried to apologize, she hadn't let him get in a full sentence. Remembering those painful tears in her eyes made him feel like the biggest jerk in the world. But what was he supposed to do? She wouldn't speak to him when they had classes together, and during the one class that had free seating, she sat across the room from him. If it hadn't been for her glare she'd shot at him when he'd stood to follow then he might've moved right along with her, but she probably would've switched seats again anyway.

And ever since that incident on Monday, he couldn't keep the damn girl out of his mind. Everything she had ever said to him kept replaying in his mind. And things she hadn't meant for him, little laughs and adorable expressions, jutted in frequently. It was downright disturbing. Even when she was ignoring him, she wouldn't give him any peace!

"Sakura, could I talk to you for a moment?"

An unfamiliar voice broke through his mild distress. The only reason it caught his attention at all was because her name was in the sentence. Syaoran took a few steps forward, straining to listen around the corner, where a boy was asking for an audience with Kinomoto.

"Um, okay. What do you want to talk about?" There was silence suddenly. The boy seemed to be checking around to make sure they were alone. "Are we going to stand around wasting my time or are you gonna talk about whatever it is you want to talk about?"

"Ah… you're always so forward. That's what I like about you." Silence followed again, and Syaoran figured Kinomoto was in shock. He certainly was. "You see… I've been watching you for a while. You're so different from everyone else. And you're so cute… I was wondering… How would you feel about going out with me?"

Something ugly erupted in Syaoran's stomach. He stood at the corner, eyes wide. Suddenly, a battle began in his mind. Two opposing sides fought for control, trying to decide what to do. He stood helplessly, glued to the spot.

'_You have to stop this! It cannot be allowed! No stupid, ordinary boy is stepping into your territory! Drag him away from Kinomoto if you have to! Do NOT allow your girl to be stolen!'_

'_What, are you stupid? First off, even if he was interested in Sakura, how would he explain suddenly running in there and stopping their conversation? It would look like he's been eavesdropping!'_

'_Hasn't he been? Anyway, this doesn't matter. He HAS to stop Kinomoto from dating someone else! Charge!'_

'_He does NOT have any feelings towards Sakura! Imbecile!' _

'_He does so! I mean look at her! She's so adorable, and she's __**different**__. Syaoran likes girls that are different, right? It's so obvious that he has a crush on her.'_

'_She's annoying! He said so himself!' _

'_Yeah, but he feels awful about it now! And besides, he feels a pull towards her. When has he ever felt a pull towards anything before in his life? It's a sign! She's the one!'_

'_Liar! It's just some weird fascination with her strange personality! He'll get over it once he exposes her as a fake. She'll end up just like everyone else, and everything will go back to normal.'_

'_She's not a fake at all! She's unique! And he LIKES her.' _

'_He DOES NOT LIKE her!' _

'_YES HE DOES!' _

'_NO HE DOESN'T!'_

Syaoran sighed heavily and shook his head, attempting to clear away the voices. He wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, he didn't want some unworthy, ordinary scum taking Kinomoto away from him. But on the other hand, how was he supposed to just barge in and force them to not date? It was an impossible situation. Catch-22. Damn it.

"Um… I'm flattered but…" There was a pause. "I… I'll think about it, okay?" And suddenly rushed footsteps were coming towards him, getting louder very quickly. He didn't even have time to move. Both parties looked surprised as Sakura rounded the corner. However, she was going too fast to stop in time and the girl ran straight into the waiting boy. Being that he was shocked, Syaoran could do nothing as the two toppled over.

"Ow…" Syaoran groaned after he hit the ground. Damn, the floor _hurt_. And that girl wasn't exactly light as a feather. It took him a moment to realize why exactly he knew that she was heavier than she looked.

Sakura. Red covered him head to toe as he realized the situation they were in. Kinomoto, however, seemed too angry to notice their current position.

"You stupid bastard! What the hell do you think you were doing? Were you listening in on my conversation? Honestly, this is just what you deserve! No, you deserve more! You are such an…" Syaoran cleared his throat, successfully bringing Kinomoto out of her rant. She looked down at him. At that moment, she had him pinned to the ground. Her hands had wrapped themselves around his wrists somehow, stopping him from pushing her off. She was half-sitting on him. Red crept up her cheeks, making her resemble a tomato. "Oh."

Syaoran turned his head to the side, doing his best to look angry, not embarrassed, or anything that might suggest he liked her. But somewhere deep inside, he was almost enjoying this. And this was the turning point. If he was enjoying this… Well then. Now it made sense.

'_Told you he liked her.'_


End file.
